Over 150 officials and journalists from African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries have gathered in Brussels, Belgium for a conference that aims to bridge the gap between agriculture development in rural areas and coverage of this sector by media.
The conference, which is being held under the theme ’The Role of the media in Agricultural and Rural Development of ACP countries’, commenced on Monday with a briefing session for participants at the European Commission building at the Borschette Centre in Brussels.
The gathering is part of the Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation (CTA) 25th anniversary celebrations and aims to bridge the gap between agriculture development in rural areas by reaching target audiences in ACP countries via the mainstream media. Participants hail from more than 40 ACP countries.
In his remarks at the opening briefing, Ian Barber of the European Union emphasized the importance of the media in the various democracies. He said that the media acts as a watchdog and gatekeeper, ensuring that presentations by democratic governments are important to all areas of governance
Former CNN news anchor Tumi Makgabo (left) chats with Trinidadian media consultant Dr Krishendaye Rampersad.
CTA director, Hansjorg Neun said that the media strengthens and collaborates within the confines of good governance. He stated that this year’s conference intends to provide answers to the question; “why do we only read about agricultural issues when there are natural disasters such as tsunamis, food crises, flooding”. Neun emphasized the need for the media to provide coverage to agricultural issues; its potential and success stories, noting that agriculture needs to be urgently boosted to feed some nine billion people worldwide by 2015.
According to the CTA head, while most governments and private entities are investing in agriculture, there is also a simultaneous need for such entities to invest in media and communication. He said that most media houses /journalists are not specialists where coverage of agricultural matters is concerned. In this light, he pointed out that the CTA has undertaken several strategies to ensure that key messages are conveyed on agricultural issues; making agriculture a better, more appealing theme where journalism is concerned.
Among the reasons highlighted for agriculture issues receiving little recognition within the mainstream media were poor infrastructure within media houses, lack of equipment, lack of education on agriculture activities on the part of journalists and poor output resulting out of the latter. Recommendations brought to the fore within the first session on Monday were the need for improved skills where journalists are concerned; improved relationships between government agencies and the media; as well as the recognition of the important roles technology plays within the field, the latter being highlighted as advanced in the Caribbean as compared to Africa and parts of the Pacific.
Trinidad and Tobago’s Dr Krishendaye Rampersad – one of several Caricom representatives attending the conference, stated that there is an urgent need for investment in training to develop the sector. She said that on the part of the agriculture sector, officials there should also think of how the agency can strengthen itself where media relations are concerned.
Ignatius Jean, the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) representative based in Guyana told participants that there have been moves to improve relations between the mainstream media and the agriculture sector within Caricom. According to the former St Lucia government minister, “we love and hate the media but we can’t live without them”. He noted that it is important for partnerships to be a part of the media/agriculture development relationship. The agriculture official said the media has a symbiotic relationship with democracy, noting that it plays a powerful role as an agent for change in some societies.
Among the points raised at Monday’s session, which was moderated in part by former CNN news anchor Tumi Makgabo and Trinidad’s Dr Eugenia Springer, were the communication strategies used by various players within the mainstream media; the need for skills development of journalists; and access to more readily available information. Gender issues regarding cultural or personal issues preventing women in some societies from playing a part was also discussed.
Most participants at the conference are from the African continent while the Caribbean is represented by media houses from Jamaica, Barbados, Belize, Suriname and Haiti. The Caricom Secretariat is also participating while Guyana is represented by Stabroek News and Prime News.
The conference ends today.
ACP conference aims to boost media coverage of rural agri - Stabroek News - Guyana
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Within the framework of the celebrations for the 40th Anniversary of the 1972 UNESCO Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage , took place from 5 to 15 June 2012 in Kingston, Jamaica, the Caribbean Capacity Building Workshop to prepare the nomination dossiers for the INESCO World Heritage List. The workshop was organized by the UNESCO Kingston Office with funding from the government of Japan and the cooperation of the UNESCO Regional Office for Culture in Latin America and the Caribbean in Havana and the National Jamaican Commission for UNESCO.
The course was addressed to professionals working in the field of cultural and natural heritage, staff in national institutions and specialists sent by National Commissions for UNESCO in each country and was focused in the development of capacities for the nomination of sites to the tentative lists of World Heritage on the Eastern Caribbean countries as a way to expand the number of sites representing Caribbean heritage in the world list and to balance its geographical location.
The workshop aimed at providing support to the conservation of world heritage and to expand the knowledge about places of memory in the Caribbean taking into account their own specific characteristics and their high potential to promote social participation and improve sustainable development of the communities in small island states. Another objective was to strengthen the participants capacities for the effective implementation of the UNESCO World Heritage Convention and increase the participation of Caribbean countries in the preparation and submission of the nomination dossiers to the UNESCO World Heritage Centre , thus increasing in number and quality the nominations to world cultural and natural heritage and highlighting the perspective of the Places of Memory existing in the Caribbean.
The workshop used the modules of the Caribbean Capacity Building Programme for the World Cultural and Natural Heritage in the Caribbean 2004-2014 (CCBP), to facilitate the participants’ work in the nomination of the sites in their respective countries. The CCBP consists of six training modules that deal with the application of the 1972 Convention, the management of tourism, risk prevention, management of cultural landscapes, management of historic centres and management of natural heritage.
Outstanding international experts, specialists from the UNESCO World Heritage Centre and from the UNESCO Offices in Havana and Kingston taught the workshop, which was facilitated by consultants Arch. Patricia Green of Jamaica and Dr. Arch. Isabel Rigol of Cuba. Several other highly prestigious professors were invited to lecture, outstanding among them for their contribution and the special relationship established with participants, Dr. Alissandra Cummins, President of the UNESCO Executive Council and one of the most active promoters of the inscription in 2011 of y Historic Bridgetown and its Garrison, in Barbados, in the World Heritage List. Dr Cummins, who is also head of the National Commission for UNESCO in Barbados, exchanged experiences and shared important details with regards to the nomination process. After a brief stay in the country, Mrs. Cummins returned to her country to welcome UNESCO Director-General, Irina Bokova, in her official visit to Barbados, where she visited the site most recently inscribed in the World heritage List, the twenty-first in the Caribbean.
Sixteen places of memory were studied in the workshop, new proposals were considered to be included in the national tentative lists for their submission by the countries to their inscription in the World Heritage List.
https://sites.google.com/site/krisrampersadglobal
http://www.unesco.lacult.org/proyectos/showitem.php?lg=2&id=137&paginasweb=29&idtitulo=1589
